Birmingham-Southern catcher Shane Nelson and DH Ian Hancock did not walk off the field for the last time with a win, but so few programs get that opportunity. Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

By Patrick Coleman
D3sports.com

EASTLAKE, Ohio — Sunsets are beautiful.

There’s no more plain way to say it. Sunsets are beautiful.

Sunsets on the Birmingham-Southern campus are beautiful as well. As the baseball season progresses, the sun goes down over the right field fence, then more toward center. It’s a striking sight on the campus atop the hill.

And even the sunset of the Birmingham-Southern baseball program was beautiful.

It was tragic, but beautiful.

From the moment that it was announced in late March that the school would close on May 31, when the team was just 13-10, to the day where they were swept out of the Southern Athletic Association conference tournament in two games, to the day where they were given new life in the NCAA Tournament, Birmingham-Southern has just persevered.

It has persevered on the backs on this baseball team, 30-some young men who fully understand what they are doing. What they have lost. What we all have lost.

With every small college that closes, inside and outside of Division III, some legacy is lost. We may not understand everything that goes away, but those who have been through the program and the school do.

“I would say it's the relationships that last more than anything we've won on this run or anything we could win,” said Jakob Zito, who spent two years on campus after starting his collegiate career elsewhere. “I hope people have learned from this the power of just people coming together with love. At the end, tip the cap to the fans, and I was at the Panther Walk this morning, seeing some alums that have been here. It really shows the tight-knit community that Birmingham Southern is all about.”

But all of this — the postseason run, the weeks in the public eye, the entourage of a camera crew and sound guys, the 150-pound black panther statue named Rowdy and the rowdy fans who stood right behind the dugout cheering every moment — all of this nearly didn’t happen, and the final chapter of Birmingham-Southern baseball and the college itself could have been much different.

Birmingham-Southern fans exhibited a wry sense of humor about joining the ever-growing Dead College Society. Photo by Ryan Coleman, d3photography.com

The school has been in financial limbo for more than a year, and the students couldn’t help but feel that stress. But once the school finally ran out of financial options and made its announcement, a weight was lifted. The Panthers went on a bit of a tear and won 13 of 14 games heading into the conference tournament. But that tournament appearance resulted in two losses to Rhodes on April 26 and 27.

It could have ended right there.

"I thought that was it,” said coach Jan Weisberg. “And there was a lot of sadness because I thought I was walking off the field for the last time potentially.  But when we got this new life, it was just a different run than we've ever had. There was a peace in the dugout and these guys can tell you that there was a don't-lose mentality. It was 'just go take the field another day with each other and it'll be hard tomorrow.'

"When we wake up and realize that there is no more, you know, it'll be hard."

Birmingham-Southern spent fewer than 20 years of its 167-year history as a member of NCAA Division III. What the school did, what Weisberg did to build a program from scratch in 2007 after the athletic department moved from Division I to Division III, was pretty spectacular. In their third year, they went 34-5, ranked in the top five in the country even through they were ineligible for the postseason. Bruce Maxwell, an All-America selection at catcher, was drafted in the second round by the Oakland A's in 2012. In 2019, they went to the World Series, and even made the three-game Division III Championship Series before losing to Chapman.

And even though Weisberg often said that this wasn’t his best team, and it made his players chuckle, it’s certainly the one people will remember — perhaps the only one most people will ever know. "I just love it that the final chapter of Birmingham-Southern — it could have easily gone off into the sunset and not many people outside of graduates or even the Birmingham community would have known about it — but now the nation knows that there's some pretty special things that happened here."

Hours after the game, a heartbreaking 11-10 loss to UW-Whitewater, ended, fans remained in the parking lot here at Classic Auto Group Park, with a bit of pink peeking out from behind the clouds in the western sky. Many were members of the Hulse Patio Social Club, the parents, alumni and friends of the program who made Birmingham-Southern one of the best tailgates at any school in any Division III sport. Some were alumni from decades past, including a grad from the ’80s who drove in from Chicago for the final two games. And while there will be a postseason team banquet and some other gatherings once the group returns to Alabama, it will never quite be like that moment again.

This program without a school will exist in those friendships, those relationships, those times where alumni gather — in-person or online. Even though Birmingham-Southern College is now closed, permanently, that financial and administrative action does not terminate the connection. It doesn’t erase the memories.

After the sun sets, the glow remains in the sky for some time. And even after that glow fades, at least this time of year, the sound doesn’t stop. You might hear crickets, frogs, the occasional hoot of an owl, cicadas.

That’s what the stories of Birmingham-Southern College and its baseball program will be like. Because sunset isn’t an end.

It’s a time for telling stories.